01/15/2013

A State Duma committee on Monday discussed an online petition opposing the "Anti-Magnitsky Law" passed late last year, but it appeared to delay until at least April any action that could result from the petition.

Around 50 local residents protested Monday at a construction site in the Selyatinsky Forest outside Moscow, where environmental activists and construction workers are locked in a battle over pristine woodland.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his newly appointed Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kozhara, had a series of meetings on Sunday and Monday to underline the importance of fostering strategic ties between the two countries, with Ukraine's potential accession to the Russia-dominated Customs Union a central topic.